The invention relates generally to a vehicle interior storage pocket.
Soft trim storage pockets may be positioned throughout a vehicle interior. For example, certain vehicle seats may include a storage pocket disposed on a seat back panel to facilitate storage of publications, maps and/or other small items. Typical storage pockets include a flexible piece of material secured to the bottom and sides of the seat back panel, thereby forming a pocket suitable for storage of small items. Certain storage pockets include an elastic strip sewn or otherwise coupled to a top edge of the pocket. The elastic strip serves to bias the top edge of the pocket toward the seat back panel. In this configuration, items may be placed into the storage pocket by grasping the top edge and pulling the top edge away from the seat back panel. After the items have been placed in the storage pocket, the top edge may be released, thereby enabling the elastic strip to drive the top edge of the pocket toward the seat back panel.
As will be appreciated, the length of the top edge is selected to facilitate expansion of the pocket to the fully open position. As a result, the length of the top edge is generally greater than the width of the pocket. Consequently, when the top edge of the storage pocket is in contact with the seat back panel (e.g., when the pocket is in the closed position), wrinkles or gathers will develop adjacent to the top edge, thereby providing an undesirable appearance. Furthermore, it should be appreciated that pockets configured to provide larger openings will increase the number and/or size of the wrinkles, thereby further detracting from the appearance of the storage pocket.